SERIOUS AS EVER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 November 1941, Page 5

SERIOUS AS EVER

POSITION ON MOSCOW FRONT BUT RUSSIAN RESISTANCE INCREASING. SOVIET SUCCESS IN SOUTH. LONDON, November 24. Though the Russian resistance is hourly increasing on the Moscow front, the capital’s situation is more serious than ever, says the Stockholm correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph.” Fighting is growing in intensity at Klin, Volokalamsk, Mojaisk and Tula. The Germans are bringing up new reserves in a steady stream and a new battle has been raging during the last 24 hours in the Serpukhov region. Reliable sources confirm that the Russians have withdrawn from Rostov across the Don, blowing up all bridges and destroying all factories and shipyards, but even the Germans deny the report that they have already crossed the Don. Moscow radio declared that the Russians had captured a further three important points on the Leningrad front, where the Russians retain the initiative and are constantly attacking. GermanFinnish forces which drove a wedge into the Russian defences in the Kes-

tenga sector were flung back to their original positions after a fierce fourday battle. The “Red Star” reports that the Russians recaptured Malayavishera, the Germans retreating after losing 1000 men.

This morning the Soviet information bureau announced: In a sector on the southern front west of Rostov our forces routed the German Forty-ninth Alpine Rifle Corps, and a tank division. The Russian counter-attack began on November 20 and by yesterday Soviet forces had advanced 37 miles. The enemy lost over 7000 'killed and considerable war equipment.